Sunday, June 5, 2016

Handel's Water Music





Recently Miriam Sagan and Michael G. Smith sent me their haiku sequence inspired by Handel's Water Music.  I am pleased to see more haiku and more classical music here--and more work by Miriam and a new-to-the Song Is... writer.

As the temperatures rise, the riverside is a good place to be!




background kettledrums
rolling riverrock
blood in the veins                                                                               

ordered garden beds
a baroque score
torn in spring wind                                                                              

tasting the last
of last years’ dried apples
the tree blooms                                                                                     

snowflakes falling
over my lettuce planting hopes
notes pour allegro                                                                                

a slow moment observed, lilacs opening without a minute hand         

edging off the eave, a raindrop takes its chance                                  

that long-gone cloud
left behind
a red rose                                                                                             

tea kettle whistling
water’s metamorphosis
like a recurring dream                                                                           

an escapee,
Inky the Octopus
finds the grail to the sea                                                                      

take my ashes
to the Pacific
they won’t dance alone                                                                        

Kew Gardens—
a lily pad big enough to
float a baby on                                                                                      

hot spring pool along
the Gila’s bank
howling dog                                                                                         


sutra says “like a lotus from muddy water”—me                                

foraging along
the sacred Bagmati
gods and pigs                                                                                       

a melody
as Chinese elm seeds
land as weeds                                                                                       

all air
Aquarius -
autumn rain predicted                                                                          

crossing
our dry river, a cascade
of feeling                                                                                              

Bowling Alley Rapids -
river otter makes
it look easy                                                                                           

a fountain
plays catch
with sunlight                                                                                         

my snowball floats - sutra says “water and ice are the same”              

sea level 
the cities of the future
at low tide                                                                                            

centuries of lake
ooze between
our boy toes                                                                                         

a fossil shell
now high on
Mt. Meru                                                                                              






Below is a link to a performance of Handel's Water Music on period instruments:


If you would like to listen to a performance on more contemporary instruments, see this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3N-OJTpikc


8 comments:

  1. Congratulations Miriam and Michael,an interesting piece of work,love and best wishes ,I love this one liner, angelee

    sutra says “like a lotus from muddy water”—me Miriam

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Angelee! Yeah, Miriam is fun to work with!

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  2. Lovely! - Laura M Kaminski

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  3. What a terrific haiku sequence. So many delightful haiku and it all goes together--like Handle's water music.
    Well done Miriam and Michael.

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  4. Well, here's to cascades of feelings. Marvelous, Michael + Miriam. Lovely. Moving. Thank you both.

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